Chapter 6 A family

• Beth has had a huge crush on Jack since the first day he came to our hotel to book the hall for a conference meeting and trust me when I say Beth doesn’t just randomly like guys. She has great taste in men.
• She couldn’t talk to him about it so she just stalked him quietly. I always warned her about it but she wouldn’t listen to me.
• “uhh, no. even though he says he’s my friend now, I can’t bear to match two friends together and end up watching them go all PDA in front of me.
• Gross”, I replied, making a disgusted face and causing Beth to chuckle.
• “But on the bright side, I get to hang out with you guys when you’re meeting up as friends outside business, right?” she asked.
• “Uhh, that could work. Maybe a once or twice”, I said jokingly but the look on her face threw me into a laughing fit.
• “You should know I’m joking, Beth. Sure, you could join us in our outings if there’s going to be any and maybe I’ll introduce you guys to each other”, I said.
• Beth squealed in excitement and threw her arms around my neck and I had to tap on her shoulder to let her know she was holding me too tight.
• “Thank you so much, Bes. Well let me get back to the kitchen and keep an eye on things around there. See you later, love”, she said walking away.
• I chuckled at her how happy she was leaving my office. She seemed like she had just won a lottery or had gotten a visa to travel out of the country, probably to Dubai because she has been rambling about visiting Dubai ever since her cousin told her about how beautiful that place was.
• Soon, it was time to go home so I grabbed my bag and phones and exited my office. I locked the door behind me and walked into the elevator. I typed in the number to the ground floor and the elevator began to move downwards. I wish the day could be longer than this. I dreaded going home. A home that doesn’t make me happy. It’s not a home; it’s just a house, a building.
• A home would consist of a happy family but this wasn’t a happy family. Is this even a family?
• I had already ordered an Uber and it would be picking me up in the next 10 minutes. I checked the time on the wristwatch on my wrist and it says 5:05pm. I waited a few more minutes until a white, fancy car pulled over in front of me and the windows rolled down.
• I saw a friendly-looking man look out the window and with a bright smile on the face said “Did you order an Uber?”
• “Yes”, I replied.
• “Well get in, Miss”, he said, still keeping the smile on his face.
• I smiled back at him and thanked him, while entering into his car. The car’s interior was amazing. It had red, leather seats and the steering wheel was white too.
• The Uber driver drove to my destination I gave him after typing my address into the GPS system in his car. The ride was cool and I almost fell asleep but then the Uber came to a halt after some minutes. I got out of the vehicle and expressed my thanks to the driver but was stunned to see his countenance. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.
• “This is the house of Sebastian King. How do you know him? Who are you to him?” he asked.
• I was about to reply when he gasped and looked at me in shock.
• “Please don’t tell me you’re his wife. I heard he got married recently”, he added.
• “Well, you could say that”, was all I could say.
• His eyes instantly lit up and he stood fixed to the spot. He rummaged through the glove box in the car and pulled out a pen and a book, which looked like a dairy.
• “Please, can I get an autograph?” he asked with bright eyes.
• “Uhhhhh… Ok”, I replied confused.
• I’ve never had anyone meet me for an autograph. Is this what being married to a wealthy man feels like? Well, I took the book from him and signed my signature on it. He was elated when he collected the book from me.
• I gave him the money for the cab and he thanked me like I’ve done him a huge favour. He entered his cab and zoomed off. For some reason, I was delighted within myself. I strode through the gigantic gate towards the mansion. I was so dog-tired that as soon as I walked into my room, I dropped on my bed and snoozed off.
• I didn’t know for how long I slept but when I woke up, it was darkness all over the place. I traced the table lamp on my bedside table and switched it on. I got up, pulled off my work clothes and entered the bathroom. I washed up my body and felt clean again. With a towel swathed around my chest, I walked out of the bathroom.
• As I was about to take off the towel, the door opened and I spun around to check who had just barged into my room, only to find Sebastian looking at me like I was a piece of meat. He looked astounded. Then I realized. I was only in a towel that was barely covering my thighs. I quickly wrapped my arms around my chest area. He cleared his throat and looked anywhere else but me.
• “I came to inform you that my parents would be joining us for dinner tomorrow so get prepared”, he said and walked out almost immediately, closing the door behind him.
• I felt heat on my cheeks. I walked to the vanity and checked my face on the mirror to see that I was red-faced. I couldn’t possibly be flushed. I was embarrassed that he had to see me that way. I quickly got dressed, at the same time wondering why he didn’t knock on the door before coming in.
• When I was done getting dressed, I sauntered out of my room with the intention to join Selena and Mae to cook dinner. Getting to the dining table, I saw the table was already set. I was confused. Did I sleep for that long? Seems like I slept into dinner time. I walked to the kitchen and saw Selena cleaning things up.
• “Hi Selena, did you guys finish cooking already?” I questioned.
• “Yes darling. Your dinner is on the dining table”, she replied.
• “Wow I slept for long then. I’m so sorry I could join you and make to cook dinner”, I said to Selena.
• “No problem, dear. I understand you must be tired from work”, she answered, understandably.
• “Where is Sebastian? Has he had dinner yet?” I asked.
• I didn’t know why I asked; I just felt like I had to pretend that we were a happily married couple but who am I kidding? Selena knows Sebastian too much. She probably knows the truth behind our marriage.
• “He has not come back since this evening. He left to hang out with some friends”, Selena replied.
• “He goes out like this every evening and comes back late at night so you’ll just had to bear with that”, she said, looking sad like there was more she had to say but I just nodded.
• “I’ll go have dinner then”, I said, turning towards the dining room but Selena held me back.
• “Jasmine, I know your marriage with Sebastian is an arranged one but I want you to be strong. You’re going to see a lot and experience some unpleasant things but you have to stomach them and tolerate Sebastian.
• He may be a little too much at times but he’s a good boy and a fine man. Just bear with it even if it hurts”, Selena said.
• I hugged her as I felt tears gather up in my eyes. That’s what I wanted to hear.
• “Thank you”, I whispered in her ears.
• “Now go have your dinner”, she said patting my back.
• I smile and pulled out of the warm hug. I smiled at her and walked towards the dining table. Just as I had begun eating, the door went wide open. I somewhat couldn’t believe what I was looking at.